page_title: Old Delhi
section_title: Walls and gates
hierarchical_section_title: Old Delhi / Walls and gates
caption_attribution_description: English: The City of Delhi Before the Siege - The Illustrated London News Jan 16, 1858. Collectors &amp; Collection: One original engraving is displayed in the Red Fort Museum , New Delhi. The original engraving is also part of Anshul Kaushik's History Collection.
context_page_description: Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area part of the greater city of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1639, when Shah Jahan decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. The construction of the city was completed in 1648, and it remained the capital of the Mughal Empire until its fall in 1857, when the British Raj took over as paramount power in India.
  It was once filled with mansions of nobles and members of the royal court, along with elegant mosques and gardens.
  Despite having become extremely crowded and inundated today, it still serves as the symbolic heart of metropolitan Delhi and is known for its bazaars, street food, shopping locations and its Islamic architecture; Jama Masjid being the most notable example, standing tall in the midst of the old city. Only a few havelis are left and maintained.
  Upon the 2012 trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Old Delhi became administered by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.
context_section_description: It is approximately shaped like a quarter cìrcle, with the Red Fort as the focal point. The old city was surrounded by a wall enclosing about 1,500 acres (6.1 km²), with 14 gates:
  Nigambodh Gate: northeast, leading to historic Nigambodh Ghat on the Yamuna River
  Kashmiri Gate: north
  Mori Gate: north
  Kabuli gate: west
  Lahori gate: west close to the Sadar Railway station, Railway Colony, including the tomb of Syed Abdul Rehman Jilani Dehlvi.
  Ajmeri Gate: southwest, leading to Ghaziuddin Khan's Madrassa and Connaught Place, a focal point in New Delhi
  Turkman Gate: southwest, close to some pre-Shahjahan remains which got enclosed within the walls, including the tomb of Shah Turkman Bayabani.
  Delhi Gate: south leading to Feroz Shah Kotla and what was then older habitation of Delhi.
  The surrounding walls, 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and 26 feet (7.9 m) tall, originally of mud, were replaced by red stone in 1657. In the Mughal period, the gates were kept locked at night.
  The walls have now largely disappeared, but most of the gates are still present. The township of old Delhi is still identifiable in a satellite image because of the density of houses.
  The Khooni Darwaza, south of Delhi Gate and just outside the walled city, was originally constructed by Sher Shah Suri.
caption: The City of Delhi Before the Siege - The Illustrated London News Jan 16, 1858
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